Lily Aldridge and Barneys New York Host Cocktails and Dinner to Celebrate Thakoon Panichgul

Inside Barneys New York, fashionable guests including Kimberly Chandler, Giovanna Battaglia, Sara Battaglia, and Lauren DuPont came out to toast designer Thakoon Panichgul as he celebrated his tenth anniversary. After cocktails and music by Isaac Ferry, the group migrated a few blocks north (and east) to an intimate dinner at haute boîte, The East Pole, where the conversation was all about Thakoon. “I love the revival and reissued pieces,” said model and cohost Lily Aldridge sporting an elegant robe coat from Thakoon’s spring 2015 collection. “Now I know where I want to wear them, although it’s sold out!” exclaimed Aldridge. Kimberly Chandler eyed the same piece on Aldridge. “She’s wearing my favorite look from the collection,” said Chandler who is currently dividing her time between New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. For the sake of differentiation, she ended up ordering the same piece but sans sleeves for versatility. “You can layer the hell out of it!” she exclaimed.

As guests sampled the fluke crudo and lemon truffle chips, Rachel Chandler Guinness recalled one specific dress from the designer that she borrowed and that never made its way back to his showroom. “It was a dress from 2007 and had ribbing but then I lent it to my girlfriend,” said Guiness, “then she was Thakoon’s intern and I told him she was wearing my dress.” Other guests including Stephanie LaCava, Laura Stoloff, and Vogue’s Jill Demling were also sporting the designer, making the event seem like an impromptu retrospective of sorts. “They went into the archive for me,” said LaCava, “it’s spring 2009, the Laurie Simmons collection.”

And how did the designer of the moment feel? “Everything I do is like college,” said Panichgul, “I’m continuing to learn.” Have there been any highlights over the past decade? “I keep saying this, but the biggest moment for me, was when my first collection was shot by Steven Meisel and Grace Coddington in Vogue.” Barneys’ Mark Lee then took center stage to make a quick toast. “I had the fortune to meet Thakoon in 2007, I was a mentor in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund [Competition]. I don’t think I helped him” said Lee, joking. As guests tried the bacon cheeseburgers and chicken kiev, we couldn’t help but ask Panichgul where he sees himself ten years from now. “I’d love to have an assistant and a bit more free time,” he said before chuckling, “other than that, we’re good.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.